The Shadow in the NIght
by betweenthetwo
Summary: Post HBP. Hours before the war is to arrive at 12 Grimmauld Place, the traitor Severus Snape brings warning to Remus Lupin and both gain an understanding of the complexities of loyalty and sacrifice.


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The Shadow in the Night

Rating: G

Summary: Post HBP. Hours before the war is to arrive at 12 Grimmauld Place, the traitor Severus Snape brings warning to Remus Lupin and both gain an understanding of the complexities of loyalty and sacrifice.

Author's Notes: I'm not 100 happy with this, but I needed to write something.

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It was midnight when he entered the quiet house. He shook the rain from his robes and ran a hand through his wet hair. The weather was as terrible as his situation. Removing his muddy boots, he silently entered the library.

Lupin was sitting by the fire.

Their eyes met, and Severus let him see the turmoil of his mind. Lupin had some skill in Leglimency, but would never be able to break through his own Occlumency abilities with Severus' permission. He knew they believed him a traitor, and would never trust anything he said without proof. Severus allowed Lupin see that proof. His privacy was of no consequence now. The widening of the seated man's eyes and the tensing of his hand around the arms of the chair showed he understood.

The war had come to them.

Above their heads, the other occupants of 12 Grimmauld Place slept. Nymphadora Tonks, Fred, George, Ron, Ginny and Charlie Weasley, Hermione Granger, Harry Potter, Kingsley Shacklebolt, all oblivious to the news that Severus Snape had just brought to their door.

Lupin looked shocked, and after a moment broke eye contact and stared once more into the flames. His fingers never loosened their grip on the chair. He didn't speak.

Severus stood, strangely deflated. He had done what Albus had asked of him. He had risked his life to bring them the only information he could. Voldemort was coming. He would be at the house before dawn, the traitor Percy Weasley with him. And they would take the house if the Order were not ready.

The time for rest was over. The time for preparation had passed. If Potter wasn't strong enough, wasn't ready enough, it would mean their ruin. Severus knew this. Lupin did too.

In a room above them, Harry Potter's official guard, Kingsley Shacklebolt slept soundly. Potter was safe, his job for the day was done. Lupin was guarding the house, and he could finally rest. The war with Voldemort was on his mind, but Potter's safety was his main concern, and currently he was in the next room with his friends. Kingsley Shacklebolt turned over in his sleep and dreamt of a day when he could resign from the ministry without guilt. A day when his concerns could be as mundane as what colour to paint his office. A day without the threat of war.

In the adjacent room Nymphadora Tonks hugged her pillow in her sleep and imagined it was her lover. In her dreams they were on a beach, basking in the sunlight, with no oppressive clouds on the horizon. The worry lines on Remus' face were gone, and his eyes held no weariness. They laughed and loved, and were free. A smile graced her heart shaped face and in her sleep she held her pillow tighter.

In the library below, Remus Lupin wished he was sleeping next to her. He did not want to know what the eyes of the traitor Severus Snape had just told him. He did not want Snape to be innocent, did not want the guilt he felt looking at the gaunt, defeated man. He did not want the news that in a few hours, Voldemort would be before them. He did not want Harry to have to face that, not now, not ever.

Asleep in the rooms above them, Harry Potter slept fitfully through it all. Sitting curled on a chair near him, Hermione Granger woke with a start, momentarily disorientated. She felt a shiver run up her spine. Fear clutched her heart, foreboding filled her mind. Blinking rapidly, she focused on her surroundings. Harry was sleeping, Ron snoring with his mouth open. They were safe, she was safe. But her fear would not dissipate. Her mind would not still. Something was happening.

Severus ran his hand through his lank hair, and met Lupin's eyes once more. In another lifetime they could have been friends. Both academics, both private men, both scared by their lives. In another life they would have fought openly side by side, friends, brothers in arms. But in this life Lupin was the beacon of light, Severus the shadow in the night. In this life, prejudice had destroyed what could have been friendship, and turned it into this grudging respect, this awkward guilt. Severus hated this life, and hated Remus Lupin for reminding him of it. He was suddenly tired, suddenly weary of it all. In a few hours he would attack this house with the Dark Lord, and defend it with Lupin. He would play two parts, wear two masks, fight two masters. He was too old, too drained for this battle. Six months younger than Lupin, he felt sixty years his senior. Both had known the burden of secrecy, the pain of isolation. But Lupin had his young lover, his colleagues, his friends. Severus had the company of murderers, rapists, madmen, and the hatred of the very people he lived his life to protect.

They both knew there was no time to waste. The air was thick with urgency, the ticking of the clock on the fireplace, ominous. Still neither man spoke, still those above them slept. What passed between them transcended House, or master, or history. In that moment they were two sides of the same coin, they were kindred souls. Both felt the weight of the moment, the burden of this war was too heavy for them but they bore it as warriors. Lupin as knight of the Order, Severus a pawn of a sadistic madman with more power than sense. In Lupin's eyes, Severus saw contrition, saw regret, and understood. Neither man was without blame, neither without guilt and remorse. The end had come, the room reverberated with it, the silence acknowledged it. Both men conceded it without words. From Lupin, Severus received a compensation for his sacrifice. From Snape, Remus got warning.

The debts of their pasts repaid, they silently acknowledged the other's part in the war, and in their own lives.

The silence was broken as the door opened behind Severus. He turned quickly to see who the intruder was.

Hermione Granger gasped when she saw him, her surprise and fear robbing the air of its quiet anguish.

Ignoring her, Severus turned back to Lupin once more. This time he spoke.

"I fight not for myself, but for Albus." He said quietly. "Be sure that Potter knows that."

With that he swept past a confused Hermione Granger, and quickly put on his boots. In moments he was gone, once more a shadow of the night. Remus Lupin stood from his chair, feeling oddly bereft. The questioning eyes of Harry's friend reminded him of his duty. Resigning himself to the fate Severus Snape had brought to them, he answered the girl's questioning eyes with an order.

"Get Harry."


End file.
